The first settlers arrived in the spring of 1883 and delayed building their own homes long enough to construct a community meetinghouse on this site. The log building, thirty by sixth feet and built at a cost of $8500, was enclosed by a high board fence with roofed stalls along one side for travelers' horses. The first meeting was held on October 17, 1883, and school began in late December 1883. Thomas E. Bassett and Sarah Ann Barnes were the first teachers in the ungraded school, and they were paid in produce. Settlers donated readers and other educational materials they had brought with them, while children often stayed home in good weather to help their parents with work. At a stake conference on April 26, 1884, the meetinghouse was dedicated, and the Rexburg First Ward was organized with Thomas E. Ricks Jr. appointed bishop. During the first years of the Bannock Stake Academy, which later became Ricks College, classes were held in the First Ward Building.